Feeling Festive with Alex T Smith

After an unusually challenging year it's comforting to know that Christmas is only a matter of weeks away. With eager young book worms to treat it's time to start our Christmas book wish lists, what better way to start the festive season than with a seasonally suitable picture book. In Iceland it's a long held tradition to present your nearest and dearest with a new book, this celebration is called Jolabokaflod, which translates roughly to “Christmas book flood” and we can't think of a better Christmas treat than a copy of The Twelve Days of Christmas by Alex T. Smith published by Macmillan Children's Books

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We made the 2021 Blue Peter Book Award Short-list!

We were completely thrilled to see the big reveal of the prestigious 2021 Blue Peter Book Award shortlist. What a dazzling array of brilliant books for all ages and reading abilities. We are especially excited to see Aleksei Bitskoff featured in the books for 9-11 year old category with Life of Riley: Beginner’s Luck written by Simon James Green and published by Scholastic. You can read more in our blog post here. Since 2000, the enormously popular and influential Blue Peter Book Awards have been recognising and celebrating the best authors, the most creative illustrators and the greatest reads for children. Watch a short introduction to this amazing shortlist HERE.

This funny, gentle story is packed with snappy humour and hilarious characters. You can’t help but love Riley, a brilliant, witty, world-weary kid and long-suffering underdog. There’s a lovely message about being grateful for all the things that you have and for appreciating the people who support you, no matter what. Perfect for Diary of a Wimpy Kid fans or children about to start secondary school, though there’s a lot of fun to be had for grown ups here too.

You can grab a copy of Life of Riley Beginner's Luck HERE

Aleksei Bitzkoff is represented by Arena Illustration, you can view his online portfolio HERE

Magic Cat’s The Dragon Ark, Illustrated by Tomislav Tomic

This month unveils this long awaited, large format and beautifully bound book The Dragon Ark with exquisite illustrations on every page by Tomislav Tomic.

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Little Monsters by David Walliams, Illustrated by Adam Stower

We are very excited to announce the publication of a new picture book partnership, Britain’s best-selling author David Walliams with super talented Arena illustrator Adam Stower.

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Emily Fox Illustrates Celebrity Joke Book

It's a dream project for an illustrator when asked to create illustrations for a joke book and in this case, they picked wonderful super-skilled character creator Emily Fox to adorn the pages of TV personality, politician, and master of funny Gyles Brandreth's hilarious new (bad) joke book.

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GOAL! Football School Season 4 Illustrated by Spike Gerrell

Football School Season 4 Where Football Celebrates the World has finally hit the pitch. Written by Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton and Illustrated by Spike Gerrell, this best-selling series filled with fascinating football facts goes from strength to strength.

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Set off for outer space with Joe Lillington’s Rocket Boy

Prepare for the adventure of a lifetime as we launch Rocket Boy on his inaugural mission to Mars. Rocket Boy written by Little Tiger Press editor Katie Jennings and illustrated by Joe Lillington forms part of the incredibly successful Stripes illustrated colour fiction series.

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Little Badman illustrated by Aleksei Bitskoff

Hold on to your hats, Little Badman is BACK. We are really excited to present Little Badman and the Time-travelling Teacher of Doom written by Humzar Arshad and Henry White and illustrated by Aleksei Bitskoff. Following on from Little Badman and the Invasion of the Killer Aunties this new book has already rightfully gathered some impressive advanced reviews...

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The Mouse’s Apples Illustrated by Kristyna Litten

There's always room on the bookshelf for a new beautiful picture book and this sweet offering from author Frances Stickley and illustrator Kristyna Litten is a delight from start to finish.

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Adam Stower scoops the Alligators Mouth Award for Illustrated Early Fiction

We are delighted to announce that Adam Stower has scooped the 2020 Alligators Mouth Award for Illustrated Early Fiction with King Coo and the Curse of the Mummy's Gold (Published by David Fickling Books)

You can see him win the award here awarded by Nick Sharratt and watch his acceptance speech.

A panel of seven experts in children's literature including Illustrators Nick Sharratt and Yasmeen Ismail together selected King Coo and the Curse of the Mummy's Gold as the winner of the 2020 Award. With strong competition from the likes of Ali Pye and Alex Milway, this year's shortlist showcased some of the most exciting illustrated fiction available for avid young readers.

Adam Stower is represented by Arena Illustration, for more information regarding working with him please email info@arenaillustration.com